For European Guides and Scouts in the whole world, the election of the new Pope, Francis, 265th successor of saint Peter, is a great joy.

As soon as we saw the white smoke, we welcomed him with a heart full of joy and gratitude. Our love and our prayers have accompanied the Holy Father since his first apparition at the balcony of Saint-Peter’s Basilica.

We are touched by the humility that he showed when he asked the crowd to pray for him and when he bowed down before the blessing.Also by his sense of tradition : immediately he suggested to pray for Benedict XVI and called him by phone just before appearing at the loggia. Then by his simplicity : this morning, the Pope refused to be transported in Mercedes, he preferred to take the minibus to the Basilica for the prayer with the cardinals…

Through these admirable acts, we find our scout virtues in our new Holy Father.
He shares his name with the protector of our youngest, about whom the Lord said “let little children come to me”. The name of Francis will obviously touch the hearts of all wolf cubs, brownies and ladybirds !

The simplicity that we observed last night cannot let boy scouts, girl guides, rovers, rangers and leaders indifferent… Scouting aims at a “simple life”.The service towards the poorest evoked by the TV presenters is also very touching, especially for the red branches… Not to mention saint Ignatius’ prayer, which is so important in our religious repertory and our “scout spirituality”.

Finally, let us not forget the figure of Venerable father Jacques Sevin, a Jesuit, to whom we owe the largest part of our spiritual legacy and whose centenary of priesthood we are going to celebrate next year, during our Eurojam.

European Guides and Scouts renew their loyalty and their guard not only to the Holy See, not only to the successor of Saint Peter apostle, but to Pope Francis I.

We invite you to ask all your units to pray for our new Pope. May they not hesitate to take part in the various ecclesial proposals made in parishes, dioceses, etc.

In such an important period for the Church, our Movement must answer “semper parati” to the various proposals that will be made in our dioceses and parishes to give thanks to the Lord for the pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI, and to pray Him for the choice of his successor. We heartily recommend you to pay attention to these calls and to take part in the ceremonies, as much as possible, with your complete units, in perfect uniform. This will be for us a gesture of gratitude and tribute towards this Pope who shows us the way of faith, courage and inner freedom.

If you cannot attend the diocesan and / or parish proposals, we suggest that you organize thanksgiving masses with your religious advisers and, why not, with your bishops; for instance, you can invite the people around you to join you and thank with you the Lord for all the graces received by the Movement as a whole but also individually during Benedict XVI’s pontificate.

In March, during the period in which Peter’s See will be vacant, during Lent, we propose to you to invoke widely the Holy Spirit to receive from Him anew a good pastor, a priest and prophet for His Church.

As in 2005, the Lord estimates useful and allows the Church to be once again present on all media
channels. This means gives to all men the opportunity of discovering the Church and of converting themselves to join “Christ’ fiancée” who owns all the hidden treasures of Truth and Salvation. You can take advantage of this period to give indications to people, especially to youth around you, to
discover our scouting as a concrete means to find true joy and true happiness.

Why not study (between leaders, in fire, in clan…) what pope Benedict XVI wrote, especially his encyclical letters, his message to the scouts on the occasion of the centenary of scouting in 2007, his trilogy about Jesus ? Be the witnesses of this great pastor, doctor and thinker. In particular, you are invited to read his book “Brothers in Christ: the spirit of Christian brotherhood”, published in several languages. Already in 1960, professor Ratzinger showed us how to realize brotherhood of European Guides and Scouts, how to truly experience Europe in our methods. It is up to us to follow!

One week in the valley of Hoyoux (Belgium), trainees from Belgium and USA, trainers from several European countries and a [...]

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